Detroit Zoo to open Red Panda forest

The Detroit Zoo is kicking off the week of Monday, Dec. 10 right by opening the Red Panda forest Monday.

The Holtzman Wildlife Foundation Red Panda Forest "has been expanded by 4,000 square feet to more than 14,000 square feet, with the addition of a flowing stream, a larger and more complex arboreal pathway through the habitat, misting areas to cool the red pandas in the summer, more land for exploration and a variety of new nesting places," said the Detroit Zoological Society in a press release on Friday.

Red Pandas, which are smaller cousins of the giant black-and-white panda, eat bamboo and are native to Asian forests.

An 80-foot rope bridge was also installed in the habitat so zoo visitors can get an up-close-and-personal look at the tree-dwelling creatures.

Lloyd Semple, chair of the Detroit Zoological Society board of directors; Ron Kagan, Detroit Zoological Society executive director and CEO; Jonathan Holtzman, founder of the Holtzman Wildlife Foundation; and students from Holy Redeemer Grade School in Detroit will be opening the forest together on Monday at 10 a.m. Holy Redeemer students get the honor of touring the habitat first, according to the release.

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Along with three other zoos, Omaha, Memphis and Dallas, the Detroit Zoo released more than 300 zoo-born dusky gopher frogs into the wild at Mississippi's Ward Bayou Wildlife Management Area this month.